ClipboardFusion has been around for years and does its job well. It records what you copy, and its real party trick is transforming that text. It can strip formatting on paste, swap words, or run small macros that rewrite your clipboard automatically. It runs mainly on Windows, with Mac and Android apps too, and it offers optional cloud sync through a ClipboardFusion account. If you copy messy formatted text all day, it is a genuinely useful tool.
Relic is built around a different question: what if your clipboard never forgot anything, and nobody but you could read it? It keeps everything you copy, makes it instantly searchable, and encrypts each item on your device before it is stored or synced. The two overlap on Windows, but they pull apart fast once you care about permanence, privacy, and true cross-platform sync.
At a glance
| Relic | ClipboardFusion | |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps everything | ||
| Search | ||
| Syncs across devices | ||
| Works on Windows | ||
| Works on Mac | ||
| Works on phone | Android | |
| End-to-end encrypted | ||
| Open source | ||
| Free tier |
A couple of honest notes. ClipboardFusion does run on Mac and Android, which is more reach than most Windows clipboard tools, but its sync goes through Binary Fortress servers and is not end-to-end encrypted. Relic runs on Windows, the Mac, Linux and Android today, and on phones Relic is a browse-and-search companion rather than a background recorder. More on that below.
When ClipboardFusion is the better pick
ClipboardFusion is the right answer for a real set of people, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
- You clean up text constantly. Its scrubbing feature, stripping fonts, colors, and stray formatting on paste, is genuinely excellent and a core reason people swear by it.
- You want macros. If you like the idea of triggers that rewrite your clipboard, run actions, or transform text automatically, that is built right in.
- You are happy on Windows. Windows is where it is most at home, and it covers that platform thoroughly with a polished, mature interface.
When Relic is the better pick
Relic earns its place when you want your history kept and private, not just cleaned up.
- You never want to lose a copy. The free tier keeps a rolling 500 items, and Pro keeps everything forever, with unlimited text on every plan. Nothing clears on restart.
- You want real encryption.Relic seals every item on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 and a key derived with Argon2id. We store only ciphertext and cannot read your content, even if asked. ClipboardFusion’s optional cloud sync is not end-to-end encrypted.
- You want more than plain text. Relic tags items on device and runs OCR on screenshots, so you can search the words inside an image, not just the things you copied as text.
- You work across devices. Copy on your PC and grab it from your phone. Relic syncs your history so it is wherever you are.
One thing we will say plainly: Relic captures automatically on Windows, the Mac and Linux, and on phones Relic is a browse-and-search lens rather than a background recorder, because phone operating systems do not allow apps to capture the clipboard in the background. Like ClipboardFusion, Relic never writes to your clipboard on its own. It only puts something back when you pick it.
FAQ
Is ClipboardFusion free?
It is freemium. The core app is free, and Binary Fortress sells a Pro upgrade plus a separate subscription for cloud sync through a ClipboardFusion account. Relic also has a free tier, with an optional Pro plan around 4 to 5 dollars a month for keeping everything forever and syncing it encrypted across devices.
Does ClipboardFusion sync between my computers?
Yes, optionally. It can sync your clipboard through a ClipboardFusion account on Binary Fortress servers. That is convenient, but it is not end-to-end encrypted, so the provider can technically access what passes through. Relic encrypts every item on your device before it syncs, so we only ever hold ciphertext we cannot read.
What is ClipboardFusion actually good at?
Cleaning and transforming text. Its standout features are clipboard scrubbing (stripping formatting from copied text) and macros that can rewrite what you paste. If those workflows matter to you, it is a capable, well-built tool. Relic is aimed at a different goal: a permanent, searchable, encrypted history that follows you everywhere.
Which one should I pick?
If you mainly want to clean up formatting and run text macros on Windows, ClipboardFusion is a strong fit. If your priority is never losing a copy, searching your whole history, and keeping it private and synced across devices, that is where Relic fits.